ASSOCIATED PRESS, Tuesday June 11, 2002
Indonesian Vice Pres Visits Hardline Muslims in Maluku
JAKARTA, June 11(AP)--Indonesia's vice president Tuesday toured a school and
medical clinic run by a controversial Islamic paramilitary group in religiously divided
Maluku province.
During the same trip, however, Hamzah Haz also visited a village where 12 Christians
were killed.
Hamzah Haz arrived with an entourage of 80 people at Ambon's airport and drove to
Soya, which has come to symbolize the tenuous peace between Muslims and
Christians after Christians were killed there in April by unidentified assailants wearing
black masks.
He then met with Christian and Muslim leaders before touring a school and medical
clinic run by the Muslim militant group Laskar Jihad. The leader of Laskar Jihad has
been arrested for allegedly inciting violence in Maluku and his fighters have been
accused of fueling religious strife in Maluku and Central Sulawesi.
Meeting with reporters Monday, Haz described his one-day visit as a peace mission.
"We are going to meet the figures both from Muslim and Church leaders so this
conflict can be resolved," he said. "I also want to meet with some Maluku ministers to
help them attract and restore economic activity in Maluku."
But the meeting with Laskar Jihad - the latest by Haz to show support for Muslim
hard-liners - has called into question Indonesia's willingness to crack down on
militants. Analysts said it's an effort by Haz to shore up support among hardline
Islamic groups ahead of the 2004 election.
Haz - who has visited Laskar leader Jafar Umar Thalib in jail and met with hardline
Muslim preacher Abu Bakar Bashir - said he is only demonstrating Muslim solidarity.
Singapore and Malaysia have arrested dozens of suspected al-Qaida linked terrorists,
several of them Indonesian citizens, accused of plotting attacks against Western
interests in Southeast Asia.
Singapore has accused Bashir of leading the alleged al-Qaida linked ring.
Indonesia, however, has been slow to arrest suspects, saying it needs more proof.
Maluku province, also known as the Moluccan Islands or the Spice Islands during
Dutch colonial rule, has been wracked by three years of conflict between Muslims and
Christians that has left more than 9,000 dead. It is located about 2,600 kilometers
(1,600 miles) northeast of Jakarta.
The warring groups signed a peace deal in February, but the truce has been violated
several times.
Copyright © 2002 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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